Weekly Wrap-up

So school at our house is finally up and running. I am still trying to find my groove with the changes I thought I was going to implement. The history curriculum I thought I was going to use? Well... not only does week 2 have no reading assignments listed for history (Hunh?), but I also find that I only have units 1 and 2 of a four unit year. I am not willing right now to purchase these missing units (over the years I have already purchased them twice...), so I'm not sure yet what I am going to do. I might just hang looser and just read materials that apply to the era. I'll have to figure it out. In the meantime, here is how our week went:

Bible:

• Improvement needed. Need to ramp this up next week.

Algebra I:

• The highlight of our week, in my opinion, has been having my son understand the equation of y=mx+b and understanding that m=slope, b=y intercept, and how to solve equations to have y be positive, and how to plot the equation on a graph. Huge! (You know those days when you think your child will never make it through Algebra I? This was a day where I saw hope!)

Science:

• Did work this week on BJU Earth Science. Am not entirely certain I will stick with this, but for now I felt good that we covered something in science more than my son's unswerveable interest in killing and preserving squirrels. I am not comfortable permitting him to pursue that interest right now because I am not certain of the legality of doing it where we live. I need to research it further.
• I have been eyeing our BJU Biology, as well as SuperChargedScience.com, but haven't done more than that for now.

Literature:

• 1001 Arabian Nights Entertainments. We're working on the Andrew Lang version available for free on MainLesson.com - and my son is loving it! I don't often get this reaction from him on anything! So I will definitely be continuing this read.
• We started reading 1984, by George Orwell (something I had promised because my son had asked). He's having trouble paying attention (more interested in hunting squirrels with a sling shot this week), but what he has paid attention to so far has been received well, and I like its content and its level for his ability, so I'll stick with it.
• Began reading Men of Iron by Pyle. Not very far into it yet, but it's a small book so I think we'll complete it. It's been on my "To Read" list for a long time. 

Writing:

• My son has not had a time when we focused on writing. I talked to him about this, and he understands that we need to spend some time on this. I am entertaining the possibility of pulling out the IEW DVD seminar next week for us (him) to work on.

French:

• Coming back soon.

History:

• Did some reading from Usborne's Medieval World, and not sure yet but I think we will continue.
• Read from Picturesque Tales of Progress by Olive Beaupre Miller. Not well received, but I started with reading about Rome, not the Middle Ages, so I think I'm going to find the right part of the book and give it another try.

 Music:

• I still need to ramp up here, but we did get some hymn singing in. I plan, next week, to look with him at the classical and folk song selections for the term.

Art:

• Nothing much to report. I talked to him about art, and he groaned. He doesn't want to do art. We did not get to the looking at art this week either. When it comes to "handicrafts", he worked on making squirrel snares. (Do you see a theme here?)

Phys Ed:

• He is currently working on his Personal Fitness merit badge in Boy Scouts. I have been pleased with his work, but he sometimes needs little reminders to help him stay on track.

Health:

• We've done some recent study on lice, bed bugs and carpet beetles. We talked about the importance of cleanliness, and the importance of keeping food in the normal eating areas, keeping the bedrooms clean. Lice was going around at our church Awana group. Just sayin'.

So that's how home school went at our house. How about yours?